S5, E22: Feel-Good Fridays | A Road Trip, a Public Health Win, and the Great Millennial Song Debate

Welcome back to Feel-Good Fridays. This week, host Aislyn Greene and producer Nikki Galteland are bringing you a special road trip edition—recorded live from the car somewhere in the forests of Michigan, microphones balanced on laps and sunscreen close at hand.

Transcript

Nikki: Welcome to Unpacked by Afar. I’m Nikki Galteland.

Aislyn: I’m Aislyn Greene. Nikki, you are on the road driving through these beautiful forested places. How are you feeling today?

Nikki: I’m feeling great. I’m very excited for our adventures on the road. And I’m excited for this special road trip episode of Feel Good Friday.

Aislyn: We’re actually in Michigan reporting an upcoming episode.

Nikki: We’ve got microphones all over my lap. Aislyn’s at the wheel.

Aislyn: It’s feeling like we’re having a summer adventure, and I feel like there’s nothing more Feel-Good Friday than a great road trip summer adventure, and yours is a very summery.

Nikki: Yes, I think ours are both kind of summery today. We’re obviously excited that Memorial Day weekend has passed and we’re in the summer season. So I have some good news from the world of skincare.

Aislyn: And I will be talking about the one song that defines the millennial generation.

Nikki: Oh my goodness.

Aislyn: Some road trip music.

Nikki: Road trip music. All right. That’s after the break.

Aislyn: Welcome back to Feel-Good Fridays. Nikki, do you want to kick things off with your sunscreen good news?

Nikki: Yes. So this is some rare good news from the world of public health. I feel like you don’t get to hear that every day.

Aislyn: No you don’t.

Nikki: Um, it’s a pretty straightforward thing. People are using more sunscreen and I think that is great. I’m excited. I will admit that I went kayaking the other day, uh, while we were in Florida and I didn’t really apply sunscreen to my legs. And so I got a little bit pink. But in general, sunscreen use is up. And hopefully we’re going to see over time as that sort of works its way through the population, through generations, that people are going to be getting less skin cancers, which I think is lovely.

Aislyn: That is so great. And as like a very pale person who uses a lot of sunscreen, it’s heartening to hear that I have fellow sunscreens. Why do you think that this has increased? Like, what do you think it is about the world or sunscreen?

Nikki: It’s increasing worldwide. And so I think the obvious answer that jumps out first is that it’s been incorporated into beauty products. So we have the whole world of like Korean and Japanese skincare products that are making their way globally around. And then just the formulas for things like face sunscreen and sunscreen that might be incorporated into like your moisturizer or foundation, something like that are getting better. Like it’s easier to use high SPF regularly because it’s just more comfortable. It’s not as greasy, it’s not as white.

Aislyn: Yeah. Right. Like it doesn’t leave a white cast. Or you can find great mineral sunscreens, like pretty much any skin type, any need that you have, you can find a sunscreen for you.

Nikki: Exactly. There’s more products on the market. There’s more variety for people that have different needs. Um, and then I do think like, I don’t want to totally not count the hard work that public health people have done to like, message how important it is. So like, I think that some of that message has sunk in as well. I think sort of as we cycle through generations, people grow up with this idea as a kid that it’s important to protect yourself from the sun. That was the messaging for me when I was a kid more than my parents. And now that I’m an adult, I’m using more sunscreen.

Aislyn: We were just at a B&B this morning, and our host was telling us that she was the baby oil generation, which I feel like is like boomers. And my mom did that too. Did your parents, were they more like, yeah, put some baby oil on and lay out in the sun?

Nikki: I think so when they were younger. Yeah. But like, obviously not with us as kids. Like I feel like there’s definitely been a shift. I know like you see some really intense and like impressive campaigns in places like Australia where skin cancer prevalence is really high, that they’ll have like posters. It’s like part of the playground routine that like, you have to have a hat, you have to wear sunscreen, like it’s really baked in. And so I think that sort of messaging is helpful.

Aislyn: Do you have, I’m trying to remember there’s this Australian brand that I love their sunscreen. Do you have a favorite sunscreen, or does it depend on the situation you’re in?

Nikki: So my like walkable grocery store is a Trader Joe’s. And so I use their, their facial sunscreen is like my go-to. They have one that I think is a dupe of like the Goop brand super, whatever that one is, a fancy one that you can get for really cheap at Trader Joe’s and I love it.

Aislyn: That is really cool.

Nikki: Do you have one?

Aislyn: The other one that I do like, and I think you can get it at most grocery stores or drugstores now, is like having a hand cream that has sunscreen in it, especially if you’re doing a road trip, because that’s one area that people forget about a lot is your hands and they’re so exposed when you’re driving. And so like, I just have one in my bag or in the car, and that way I can just like toss it on and perfect to the public.

Nikki: Perfect for a road trip. Let’s get all our specialty sunscreens and feel good all summer. No sunburns for us.

Aislyn: Yes. No sunburns for us. Just nice healthy glows.

Nikki: So what should we listen to while we’re on this sun protected road trip?

Aislyn: I was just listening to this NPR episode where this group of music journalists. So it came out of a Blue Sky thread where people were trying to debate and determine, like, what is the one song that defines the millennial generation and which is, you know, we both talked about this last night. We’re millennials, right?

Nikki: Yeah. Uh-uh. Definitely firmly in that, in that bracket. Yeah.

Aislyn: So it would be interesting to hear what you think is the song of the generation. But there was some really great debate. And of course, like they played a lot of the songs, they created a playlist. So it was just like such a fun listen and brought back so many memories. Mostly positive.

Nikki: Mostly positive. Yes. I have no idea. I feel like every year in every genre, like has their own. Do you feel like there’s one that really sticks out to you?

Aislyn: We should talk about some of the ones that they brought up because the reasons that they pick them. Oh, what was the one by um, MGMT? Um.

Aislyn: Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da.

Nikki: Yes, yep, yep. I got it.

Aislyn: Yes. So one reporter said that for her, a lot of millennial music was united by deep sincerity and this live fast, die young ethos. And I do remember, like, driving around in my car and feeling that, like feeling the vibes because you know, it, it starts with, I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw. I’m in the prime of my life. You know, that’s I mean, that’s just a coming of age experience also kind of fit that millennial feeling. It wasn’t an easy time when millennials were coming of age. You know, a lot happening.

Nikki: Not like now. Yeah, yeah.

Aislyn: Any generation has struggles, right? But so not to ignore the, the growing pains of what we’re what are we at Gen Z?

Nikki: I mean, like Gen Alpha is Alpha rapidly approaching adulthood. They’re in high school now.

Aislyn: So yeah, I wonder what their defining song will be. Oh yeah. Watch the world burn.

Nikki: Oh, Gen Alpha, I love them.

Aislyn: Um, but, you know, this financial crisis and post nine eleven era and also this culture of, of striving and of coming of age. And so there was a lot of angst and emo vibes in a lot of the songs that they chose and.

Nikki: Trying really hard and didn’t want to be.

Aislyn: Yes, basically. Or like you’re trying really hard and you’re never necessarily going to achieve what your parents achieved. And so like just party and go and live your life. And, um, yes. And so I think that the song that they actually landed on as the defining song was M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes.” Which, you know, I was like, that’s the song? I don’t know, I mean, obviously.

Nikki: I love Paper planes to, to be honest, something about it. It’s like a, it’s a silly little feel good song. It’s just you feel all powerful. I think it has a sense of just like, I’m just gonna do my thing. Just personally, I like it because she has like Sri Lankan roots and it was big while I was in India, right across from Sri Lanka. And I just thought it was cool that, you know. South Asian British artist was having a hit song.

Aislyn: Well, that was their song, and in part because they felt like the millennials were the first truly globalized generation because of the internet and the way it broke down borders. And the song is about borders and immigration. I never would have thought of that in that way, but it makes so much sense to me. And then they felt like Icona Pop’s “I Love It” was the song that ended the millennial experience.

I don’t care. I love it.

Aislyn: It’s like that was like done after that, you know, after 2012, no more millennials. So it was, you know, like you can argue with them, of course. And they had many other songs that they talked about, but it was just such a fun, a fun debate, a fun kind of blast from the past. It really did bring back some memories.

Nikki: And perfect for a road trip.

Aislyn: So yes, if you had to pick one and maybe it could just be like what defined your millennial experience?

Nikki: I feel like I listened to a lot of J.Lo and Destiny’s Child, so like Jenny from the block.

I’m still, I’m still Jenny from the block.

Nikki: Was big in my like, middle school years for sure. Evanescence definitely comes to mind.

Wake me up, wake me up inside. Can’t wait wake up.

Nikki: Yes. The like super emo feeling going on. Um. “Yeah” is the song that will never die. It will play at every school dance.

Yeah. yeah. OK.

Nikki: Exactly. And you will always dance to it.

Aislyn: I just remember drinking, like, Kool-Aid colored shots and, like, really sticky clubs with bad clothing on and just dancing your face off, you know?

Nikki: That’s 100 percent yes. What’s yours?

Aislyn: Picking a song that would define a generation versus picking a song that like, defined your adolescence or early 20s. So I was like, well, for me, it would be No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom as an album and probably “Spiderwebs” because it was like, yeah, you know.

Sorry I’m not home right now, I’m walking in the spiderwebs.

Aislyn: Very much a coming of age song for me.

Aislyn: Well, we will link out to the playlist that they put together and you can share your favorite millennial song with us. For all the millennials out there, you can go down, journey down road trip lane with us.

Nikki: Please tell us. I feel like there’s so many that I’m sure I will be delighted to see everyone’s recommendations because they all feel so familiar.

Nikki: Great. Well, it’s time for us to go get on a boat. Okay, let’s do it. Happy Feel Good Friday. Bye bye.

Aislyn: This was a “Feel-Good Friday” episode of Unpacked by Afar.

Nikki: Make sure to tune in every Friday for a dose of good news from Afar’s favorite travel writers.

Aislyn: You can subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and follow @AfarMedia on social.

Nikki: And don’t forget to subscribe to our Behind the Mic newsletter at Afar.com.

Aislyn: This show is part of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. Music from Chris Colin and Epidemic Sound.

Nikki: See you next Friday.